1.Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to early stage learning skills and more specifically to learning phonetics, number skills, and social skills.
2. Description of Related Art
Repetition is an important teaching tool. To teach a child effectively, repetition must be made interesting and fun. There are a large number of educational toys that attempt to engage a child's interest and to teach the child any of a variety of concepts by virtue of the child's play with the toy. These toys however are geared to single format learning. Typically toys implement a particular instructional modality and use it exclusively.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,038, issued to Avi Arad, a doll is disclosed that has electronic switches located in the hands, feet, nose, lips, and other body parts of the doll. When a child presses the switch in, for example the hand, the doll appears to speak the word, "Hand". An adult can adjust a programming switch that changes the complexity of speech so that the doll appears to say the words, "Hold my hand" instead of only saying the word, "hand". Arad's doll, however, not only requires intervention of an adult for full operation, it operates only the format of saying a word or phrase in response to activation of a switch in a particular body part. The Arad educational toy is based on the presumption that the child will learn to associate the word with the body part in which the switch is pressed. Arad's educational toy provides the user with only a single instruction modality wherein a name is provided for a body part.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,511, titled "Educational Toys", by C. W. Keung discloses a two dimensional board on which objects shaped like household items, domestic pets, or letters can be placed. Sensing and switching devices on the board activate speech synthesis circuits that say the name of the object, such as "dog", "A", or the name of a number. Again in this device the format is constant. The child sets an object that is provided as part of the toy down on a sensing board, and a preprogrammed voice synthesizer provides the name the object represents. While the toy is interactive, it is presented as a tablet style learning tool, a device to be used in desk fashion instead of as a play object, and only a single instruction modality, the naming of an object, is presented.
A toy that is available on the market, titled "What Am I", a Golden Book.TM. product (Western Publishing Co. Inc.; 1220 Mound Ave.; Racine, Wis. 53404) presents a slightly different format. It presents the child with a 6.times.6 array of cartoon representations of various unrelated objects, for example, a bus, a bird, a spoon, a cake, a roller skate, etc. The child is asked to guess what object is in the `mind` of the toy, with the voice synthesized question, "What am I?". Upon pressing a random first square, the child is told, "I am bigger than that", or "I am smaller than that", or "I am a different color", etc. The objects are functionally unrelated. It often takes users, including adults, many tries to get a correct answer, causing frustration. Also the child must have a very clear idea of what the object is before playing the game because the object representations are all the same size. In the cartoons, a house, a spoon, a cat, and an apple are all represented with the same size picture. As with the other toys, the format is invariable. Only one instruction modality is presented. Additionally there are a very few number of phrases and tunes used.
Ideally, a teaching toy would provide an inviting format for interaction and would combine instruction with quizzing and logic to engage all portions of a child's interactive capability. Learning is best achieved when at least three physical modalities are logically connected and engaged: audio, visual, and kinesthetic. Instruction is best reinforced when both recognition and recall memory is engaged. In addition, combining declaratory instruction with rhythmic songs, direct simple quizzing, inducing logical connections, and providing a social environment all serve to enhance learning. It would be very desirable to have a toy that was attractive to a child simply as a toy and that further provided instruction using a combination of presentation formats and instructional modalities.